The Fierce, Brave Gang - The story of Holby Mixed Infants
by Tanith Panic
Summary: An alternative universe fantasy in which half of the cast of Causalty are pupils, half are teachers. Some Zax, Freechamp, Dylan, Lofty, Cal, Ethan and others.
1. Chapter 1

THE FIERCE, BRAVE GANG

THE TALE OF HOLBY MIXED INFANTS

CHAPTER ONE

The kids walked through the big doors, trying not to show they were scared. It was their first day at Holby Mixed Infants, and they hoped they'd be okay. They'd heard about the headmistress Mrs Beauchamp, who was supposed to be well scary, and now they were going into the assembly hall where she'd introduce the teachers to them and welcome them to the school.

Six-year-old Cal punched his little brother Ethan, because that's what Cal liked to do. Ethan tried not to cry. Saucy little Taylor winked at Cal, which confused the small boy so much he punched Ethan twice.

Noel and Louise strutted into the hall together, to show they were fearless.

Max and Zoe looked across the hall at each other and it was instant love. They sidled up to each other shyly with soppy grins.

Chubby little Robyn hoped nobody would laugh at her.

Lofty was scared. His real name was Ben but he was nicknamed Lofty and the kids were soon to find out why. He and Robyn grinned nervously at each other.

And in came Mrs Beauchamp, with the teachers behind her.

The kids were gobsmacked. They'd expected somebody ugly and frumpy. Mrs Beauchamp was beautiful like a film star. Bet she's called something really romantic like… like… Esmeralda, thought Lofty.

"Good morning, 1b. I am Mrs Connie Beauchamp and I want to welcome you to Holby Mixed Infants" said the beautiful Mrs Beauchamp, "Now let me introduce you to the teachers…."


	2. Chapter 2

Then Mrs Beauchamp announced the teachers as they walked in.

Mr Keogh looked as if he'd want to smack a few bums. (The kids didn't realise that it wasn't legal to smack bums any more, and Mr Keogh wasn't going to tell them any different if he could get away with it.)

Ms Chao made Lofty's knees tremble in fear and Ethan's knees tremble for a completely different reason. She was very pretty but not at all smiley.

Mr Fairhead looked as if he wanted to be best friends with the whole class.

Ms Dixon looked as if she'd be good at teaching outdoor exercises and would shout at lazy kids.

But Miss Freeman, oh, Miss Freeman! All the little boys fell in love with Miss Freeman on the spot, except for Lofty who was in love with Mrs Beauchamp.

Zoe saw Max looking at Miss Freeman with his mouth open and she gave his bum a nip to punish him.

Taylor wondered if Miss Freeman would let her borrow some lipstick.

Then Mrs Beauchamp introduced them to Miss Honey, the dinner lady. She had a kind smile. Robyn wondered if Miss Honey knew about New Tricion. People who knew about New Tricion didn't get fat.

Cal wondered where he could get some plastic bugs to drop in Ethan's dinner.

And Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman wondered if they could get a quick one in during playtime, in the sick room.


	3. Chapter 3

Playtime came round. Cal extended his reign of terror and punched Ethan, Lofty and Noel. Noel punched Cal back and made his nose bleed. Cal went whining to look for Miss Freeman but couldn't see her or Mrs Beauchamp anywhere. He went to the sickroom because he thought he'd have a lie down whether they said he could or not.

Mrs Beauchamp heard the door being tried and came running out with her lipstick all smudged. She gave Cal a big handkerchief and told him to go to the boys' toilets and clean up. Cal felt better already, he knew what Mrs Beauchamp had done… she'd pretended to be careful about New Trition and had been stuffing a doughnut at playtime! He would write it on the blackboard when his nose was better.

Cal got crosser and crosser during the afternoon. Miss Freeman kept looking over at him and giggling helplessly.

Then came the moment when the kids all had to introduce themselves.

'I'm Zoe and my best friend's Max. I like Barbie dolls and Max, and Frozen and Max. And chocolate and Max.'

'I'm Cal and I hate everybody here'.

He hoped Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman would get cross and have to give him a lecture so it would make the day go faster. But they just nodded. Slutbags, thought Cal, using one of his favourite bad words.

'I'm Max and I like Zoe. And football. And pretending to be Dr Who in the Tardis. And Zoe. And playing on them big wall bars outside. And Zoe.'

'I'm Ethan and I like listening to posh music and playing with my toy cars. And I don't like being punched.'

'I hope nobody punches you here, Ethan.' Miss Freeman looked quite fierce. Three little hands were poised to go up but they crept down quickly because everybody knew snitches were Poison Bad,

'Now, Ben, you've been quiet, let's hear from you. Maybe you can tell us why everybody calls you Lofty.'

At Miss Freeman's soft voice, a little tear ran down Lofty's face. He would have to tell the truth and everybody would hate him forever.


	4. Chapter 4

He knew he had to speak or he'd be expelled.

"It was last year. I was only a baby then; I'm six now. I found a puppy on the street and it was crying like dogs cry, and I sneaked it up to the loft to love it and look after it. But it turned cold and…"

Another tear, but Lofty got his hanky out just in time. He knew it was the worst thing ever to have a snotty nose in front of special people like Miss Freeman and Mrs Beauchamp.

"My dad found the puppy and said if he hadn't it would of been dead. And he had to pay a big fat vet bill and I didn't get no pocket money for ages. And I can't have another pet, not even a fish, not even a stick insect, until I'm dead - I mean, for as long as I live. And that's how I got my name. And I have to use it to remind me I'm bad."

"You just wanted to be kind to the puppy, Ben. You can be Ben in class."

Lofty gave Mrs Beauchamp a watery smile.

"Puppy killer! Puppy killer! "

"Don't be so silly, Cal. The puppy went to the vet and was fine. You have to learn to listen in class."

Cal heard his beloved Miss Freeman snapping at him and wanted to murder Lofty. Mrs Beauchamp claimed the teacher's attention:

"Miss Freeman, I hope you'll be able to stay behind with me - we need to make a lot of notes tonight."

Oh, Mrs Freeman DID.

Cal caught the look between them. He was going to snoop around and find that doughnut stash.

Max and Zoe thought it might be nice to have a gang to fight Cal. They would talk about it at the burger place, which was their after-school treat, then they'd be going to the pictures with Zoe's big sister.

And Mrs Beauchamp decided there was something missing from the school and for once she wasn't thinking of a sickroom with red velvet drapes and cushions.

The next day Zoe and Max gathered a little crowd round them because they'd seen the latest Disney and the kids wanted to know about it. Cal deliberately stalked to the other end of the playground because all he wanted to know was where Mrs Beauchamp kept her doughnuts.

"Before we tell about the film, I think we ought to be a gang. You know, to fight Cal because he's bad to everybody."

"We could have secret meetings."

Robyn got excited and pointed to a hut.

"We could have it in there!"

They went to check out the hut. It was cold but it was clean and didn't have tools and stuff to fall over in it.

"Who's Boss of the Gang?" asked Noel.

"Max is boys boss and I'm girls boss. And if we bring fifty pence a week we can buy sweets and stuff to share out."

Lofty got excited because, as he said, maybe they could bring in comics to swap. Lofty loved comics especially adventure stories about saving the world from Aliens.

They trooped out again just in time to join Mr Keogh's class. Mr Keogh taught sums and got in bad moods.

Mr Keogh was a little bit grumpy because Mrs Beauchamp had told him that he had to stop making the kids think he could smack bums. So he put his hands on his hips and said to them all:

"There's a new star system. If you do anything bad or good you get a star against your name. A black star is very bad indeed and the child who gets a black star will stay in at playtime IN MY DUNGEON. It's dark and full of rats."

Zoe gave a little shudder and held Max's hand.

Result, thought Mr Keogh and carried on.

"A green star is could do better. Three green stars in a week get swapped for a black one. A blue star is just to say you behaved yourself. A red star is very good. But a gold star… oh, a gold star is very special. If you get a gold star it goes on your report and you get a prize, of a sugar-free cereal bar."

All the kids except Cal wanted to get that gold star. Cal just wanted to get a black star so he could go in Mr Keogh's dungeon and choke rats.

He decided to make Mr Keogh really cross and ask something that was nothing to do with sums, so he said:

"Mr Keogh, where does Mrs Beauchamp keep her doughnut stash?"

"Doughnut stash?" said Mr Keogh in a very bored voice.

"Yes, the other day I went to the sick room and Mrs Beauchamp came out and her lippy was all smudged so I think she's hiding some doughnuts there."

Mr Keogh didn't give Cal a black star. He just said very quietly:

"Get out those sum books with pictures and read them till I come back."

He went straight to Mrs Beauchamp's study and knocked at the door.

"Come in."

In came Mr Keogh.

"Connie, I'm afraid Caleb Knight is on to you and Rita."


	5. Chapter 5

"A six-year-old knows we're….?" Mrs Beauchamp was dumbfounded.

"No he doesn't know you're performing rampant naughty acts all over the school. He thinks you've got a secret stash of doughnuts and that's why your lipstick was smudged", said Dylan who liked to tell it how it was.

"So what do you suggest?"

"A few random doughnuts, maybe with teethmarks in them, left in the sickroom once or twice."

"Doughnuts yes, teethmarks,no."

Mr Keogh shrugged as only he could.

Mrs Beauchamp had other things on her mind besides doughnuts that afternoon.

She asked Ms Chao to start her class ten minutes later and walked into the classroom with a basket on her arm. There seemed to be something moving in it.

"Come here, please, Ben."

As Lofty came forward, Mrs Beauchamp removed the cover on the basket to reveal…

"Oooh a rabbit!"

"Yes, Ben. She's going to live in Big Mac's hut so she can stay warm. But every day before school you have to feed her - Big Mac'll show you how - and you have to check she's okay before you go home. Can you do that for us? You'll need to come early and go later."

Lofty, his face creased by a huge smile, could.

"Mrs Beauchamp, you can't let a puppy killer look after a rabbit."

"CALEB! There's no puppy killer in this class. Come here, Ben, and stroke her. Her name's Flossy."

Ben stroked Flossy and Mrs Beauchamp felt her eyes watering. She stopped this by wondering if Miss Freeman would like to play Randy Rita Rabbit later.

"Now you've met all the teachers except Mr Fairhead…"

"I call him Mr Foul Arse!", bawled Cal, dreaming of a dark dungeon and frightened rats.

But Mrs Beauchamp didn't have the star system.

"Caleb, you'll miss two very nice classes today because you'll sit in my detention room and write out 100 times "I must not insult my teachers."

Cal used the time and notepaper to write out 'Missis Beechump is a gredy bich that gobuls downuts when nobdy's in".


	6. Chapter 6

Lofty's small face was almost glowing with pleasure as Max made the special sign for him to enter the Gang Hut before the others.

Zoe made a speech with her hand on her heart, because that's how Gang Speeches were to be made.

"We are here to honour Lofty who has been made Guardian of the Rabbit."

Cheers from the others.

"She's a lovely rabbit" said Ethan wistfully.

Lofty put his hand on his own heart and said:

"You may all come and watch the Feeding Of The Rabbit but you will need to be here by quarter to nine, and Ethan shall be first to stroke her."

Ethan forgot to do the Gang Salute as he spoke but everybody forgave him because he was excited.

"I thank thee, Lofty, and Max and Zoe."

"We are no longer Max and Zoe", announced Max, making the salute, "In Gang time we are one person. We are Zax".

Zax! It was magnificent, like an Alien Prince!

Alas, Zax the small and terrible came to grief that very afternoon.

"Zoe and Max, you can't do sums together like that. If you look at each other's work I won't know which of you is clever and which of you is a fool. Now you're to sit separately in my class. Robyn, you sit next to Zoe in my classes. Noel, you sit next to Max."

It was like separating Romeo and Juliet or Abelard and Heloise. But something else was worrying Zoe, who was crying.

"Oh Mr Keogh, have we been BLACK STAR BAD?"

"Rats gonna eat you and spit out your bones" sang Cal.


	7. Chapter 7

"No Zoe, it's not Black Star Bad, but you and Max will have to have a green star each, so be careful in future", Mr Keogh told them.

Zoe was still uneasy because three green stars meant one black star and one black star meant the dungeon and rats, but she wasn't quite so scared.

Unfortunately, Ethan had a nightmare about being in the Rat Dungeon that night. He got smacked by his Mum, instead of being cuddled, so the next day he decided to be very brave and ask Mrs Beachamp where Mr Keogh kept the dungeon…

"Dylan! First you tell the kids that you're allowed to smack bums, then you tell them lies about having a dungeon full of rats. You can't terrorise them like that."

"It's the only way to keep those buggers in their place", Mr Keogh replied doggedly.

"Well from now on you tell them the truth", Mrs Beauchamp replied.

All the sunshine went out of Mr Keogh's life in roughly five minutes.

The day continued fairly well until afternoon playtime. The Gang went running down to the hut because Max had composed a Gang Song and he and Zoe, in their official Zax capacity, were going to teach it to everybody.

Cal was lurking to see what damage he could do, which was a shame because…

Lofty, Ethan and Robyn came scattering out of the hut, looking shocked.

"We can't play in there. Miss Freeman's not very well, she's lying down and Mrs Beauchamp's giving her the kiss of life!"

Cal smirked. He knew the truth now. Mrs Beauchamp wasn't stuffing doughnuts on the sly. Miss Freeman and Mrs Beauchamp were… LEBSIONS!

(Disclaimer: Parents of characters in this story may not be the same as their parents in the TV programme.)


	8. Chapter 8

Cal had his reasons for being glad that Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman were Lebsions, and the reason was this:

Cal's dad had once been phoning a mate, not realising Cal was hiding in the room, and he had said:

"I had a magical time last night with two lesbians. All my wishes come true at once!"

So Cal thought lebsions could grant wishes. He knew they were girls that kiss other girls, and now he had found two! He did wonder why his dad hadn't asked for money or to make himself stop hitting people, but Cal could wish for that now. Then Cal's dad would stop hitting Cal and Cal wouldn't need to be cross enough to hit Ethan and be mean to Lofty. He could stop being mean in classes and maybe even win that gold star!

He decided to ask Miss Freeman as she was less cross than Mrs Beauchamp. So he got to her class before the others came in, and said to her hopefully:

"Miss Freeman, are you a lebsion?"

He'd hoped she wouldn't shout but what she did was worse. She laughed. A long, long time. Cal felt about two foot high and just plotted through the lesson.

He'd wanted to be good again but now he was going to do something horribly bad. He thought of Flossy rabbit and plotted all afternoon and most of the night…

Again, a disclaimer: Cal's dad's character is purely for this story and is not a genuine character in Casualty.

The day after that, Lofty went from having a wonderful day to a horrible night.

First of all the day was nicer because Ethan had brought in a sick note from Cal. Mr Keogh had told the kids he was revising the star system a bit, a black star would just mean being kept in at playtime in the classroom. Zoe felt much better about things after that. Max had a big fantasy about carrying Zoe safely out of the Rat Dungeon and putting his foot on a rat to squish it.

But then it was time for sums and suddenly Lofty, who had had trouble all week, understood how two lots of three made six. Mr Keogh tested him by making the six little balls he'd put on the desk into groups of two, but Lofty was able to count in his head and counted six of them.

"Mr Keogh, look, there's one, two, three, four, five, six… two lots of three is six!"

"You need to remember that it's two TIMES three, Ben, but yes, you've got it. Class, we have our first gold star."

Mr Keogh said this with the same look on his face as if he'd said "Class, there's a snake loose in the classroom", but a gold star was a gold star!

Lofty didn't even mind that Mr Keogh had said he'd have to wait for his special cereal bar until the next day. A gold star!

Zax made a wonderful speech at playtime and Lofty's world was heavenly… until he ran down to feed Flossy after school, with Ethan hot on his heels.

Big Mac, almost in tears, apologised to the kids for having to step out of his hut for a while… when he'd come back, Flossy had vanished. Ethan began to cry; Lofty just went very white. The school doctor, Mr Anton Meyer, had to give the small boy a sedative and Lofty had mercifully fallen asleep in the back of the doctor's car as Mr Meyer drove him home.

And a grinning Cal sat in the Haunted Toilet in the playground near the school. In one hand was Flossy in her basket, in the other a wicked looking carving knife.


	9. Chapter 9

Cal took Flossy out of her basket and sat her on his lap. Then he took out the carving knife.

"Don't cry Rab, all your problems are gonna be over soon."

And then Caleb Knight got his come-uppance. In the form of twitching whiskers, a fluffy tail, and worst of all two big trusting eyes.

"Stop that; I'm still gonna do it."

Flossy twitched at him again and her eyes looked even bigger.

"Okay, we're not doing that no more." Cal put the carving knife back in the big holdall he'd nicked from his dad, "But you're going to be my rabbit now and not that dumbass Lofty's. We'll go to Las Vegas - or, maybe Birmingham - and have adventures. I'll go to the post office and get some money out of my savings. I'll get you top-class rabbit food and stuff to keep you warm, and, hey, I can change your name to Satanica. That's a better name than Flossy, isn't it?"

Flossy twitched her whiskers again. Cal stroked her, then settled her in her basket.

"Come on, girlfriend, time to get some dough."

He put the basket in the holdall, making sure he left a bit unzipped so Flossy could breathe.

Meanwhile, Lofty was being brave. He'd been told he could have the day off school but had come in to stop himself worrying about Flossy. Mr Keogh had earmarked him and was giving him extra sums to keep him alert.

And Mrs Beauchamp, seriously worried now about Cal as much as Flossy, had called in the police, In the form of D. Self, feared by children throughout Holby. Self had resented the fact that he had to waste his time on looking for a missing kid and rabbit, but his lust for Mrs Beauchamp had won the day, and here he was in the headmistress's office.

Disclaimer: I really wanted to use Gene Hunt as the detective here but that would have meant a crossover so you've got a change of profession for Mr Self instead.


	10. Chapter 10

D I Self actually did sod-all towards finding Cal and Flossy; he was more interested in looking down Mrs Beauchamp's cleavage and eating her best biscuits. It was his assistant Jac who got an update for the worried Headmistress.

"I went to check round town a bit. The Post Office near here did have a small boy going in and using his savings book to withdraw some cash, earlier today."

"What sort of Post Office lets a small boy withdraw money without reporting it?" Mrs Beauchamp gasped.

"Um, it seems that Marie Claire was on the counter today."

Miss Freeman snorted.

"Oh, WELL, then…" she said, rolling her eyes and making Mrs Beauchamp's heart pound.

Cal's bid for freedom had, in fact, fallen through. He'd managed to get the rabbit food from the Pet Shop, but when he'd tried to book a single to Birmingham at the railway station, the clerk had become suspicious and asked where his mum and dad were. Cal had legged it and was now once more hiding in the Haunted toilets in the playground with Flossy.

The reason the toilets were thought to be haunted was that the kids had been told by Mrs Beauchamp herself had told them the playground and the toilets weren't at all safe places for kids to be. Mrs Beauchamp had been thinking paedophiles, but the innocent kids had thought she must mean spooks.

Mr Keogh came to join them at break. He mentioned that Lofty was doing his best to be brave and had learned some new sums as well, even though he'd had to go out twice to throw up. On discussing the absent rabbit bandit, Mr Keogh had asked:

"Do you think it's worth checking out that old playground?"

Everybody leapt to their feet. Self said smarmily:

"Now, don't you worry, lovely Connie, we'll solve this one."

Mr Keogh said, enough under his breath to get away with it but loud enough to make Miss Freeman giggle nervously:

"Get ON with it then, Selfie-Baby."

"Mr Keogh!" said Mrs Beauchamp sharply, but she actually had some colour back in her cheeks. If only that poor little rabbit was safe… and, yes, stupid Cal too. But it was already early November and turning cold….

"I think it would be good if some of his classmates come along to talk to Caleb. The little lad who was in charge of the rabbit, his brother, and two more… you two will do."

Max and Zoe beamed at being chosen.

"Stupid idea, Jac…" Selfie was beginning to sneer.

"I like the idea. Cal needs to hear them before he hears the police."

"Oh well if YOU say so, Mrs Beauchamp, but what if the kid does something violent?"

"He won't", Connie replied serenely.

What a woman. What a WOMAN, thought Selfie.

What a tosser, thought Mr Keogh.

Cal was talking to Flossy.

"Think we'll have to hitch-hike soon, girl, they're too snoopy at that station. I need to get you somewhere warm or you'll get Rabbit Death Flu. But tonight I'll wrap you in your blanket and we'll hug up together under my coat."

Then he heard Mrs Beauchamp's voice:

"Cal, sweetheart. If you're in there with Flossy come out. You're not in trouble."

She was talking through the police loud-hailer. Cal had to tell her the truth.

"I'm sorry Mrs Beauchamp. I got cross because Miss Freeman laughed when I asked if she was a Lebsion so I ran off with Flossy. I was going to kill her with a carving knife-"

Lofty's colour drained even more and Zoe and Max shook their fists in perfect unison.

"-But then I couldn't because she's gorgeous and lovely. So I wanted to take her to a fun place like Birmingham and spoil her rotten. But they asked nebby questions at the rail station so we're fuggytives now."

"Cal, please let Flossy go. She could be really ill if you keep her in the cold… and so could you."

A sob from the hut. Then:

"I'm putting Flossy out."

Lofty wondered for one horrible moment if Cal would throw Flossy's body out. But Cal put the basket out and then retreated back in the toilets, and as Lofty ran to hug Flossy he could see she was safe and not scared.

"Come on out yourself lad, you've had your fun", bawled Self the Selfish.

"Not coming. I'm evil because I was nearly a rabbit murderer so I'm going to stab myself with this carving knife and DIE."

Looks of despair all round.


	11. Chapter 11

"Cal, sweetheart, you've been silly but you're not bad. If you had meant to hurt Flossy you'd have done it but you let her go. Please come out." Mrs Beauchamp.

"Come out now you little git and stop wasting our time." D I Self.

"Please, Cal, please! I love you, you're my brother." A sobbing Ethan.

"Cal, I was very wrong to laugh at you." Miss Freeman.

"But I'm evil", wailed Cal.

Lofty shyly asked for the loudhailer to have his say.

"Cal, if Mrs Beauchamp says, you can come and feed Flossy with me two days a week."

"Mrs Beauchamp does say", replied that lady earnestly.

"Flossy? Twice? Really?"

"Really!" affirmed Mrs Beauchamp and Lofty.

Cal came out. There was still tension; he had the carving knife and you never knew with kids… but he walked quietly over to Miss Freeman and handed her the safe end of the knife. She took it from him, and she gave his forehead a little kiss.

"I'd give the little swine a hiding myself", growled D I Self as Cal was taken off to be examined by Mr Meyer, and Flossy was driven to the local vet by Mr Keogh. Just to make doubly sure all was well.

"That was a crafty move; that little lad pretending he'd let him feed the rabbit", Self smirked.

"Excuse ME! Ben wasn't pretending - he meant what he said", replied Mrs Beauchamp coldly.

"Oh well not to worry. What do you say to dinner tonight?" grinned Self.

"Sorry, other commitments. Thanks for your help with the case. Goodbye for now", replied Mrs Beauchamp.

"Max and Zoe, you can stop holding hands now" Miss Freeman told them.

Max and Zoe didn't care too much. The next day they'd invite the reformed Cal to join the Gang, and Zax would make a magnificent speech.

Later that night, eating a take-away on his own, D I Self mourned the fact that Mrs Beauchamp must surely be a lesbian.

And Mr Meyer admitted Cal to hospital, sending an ambulance to pick up Ethan for good measure. The boys' father's protests were feeble and Meyer left him to his own drunken miasma. His suspicions were confirmed; both brothers had some very unpleasant bruising on their backs.

Meanwhile, Mrs Beauchamp was roleplaying Captain Constanza Sparrow and Randy Rita Rabbit was camping it up as Elizabeth.

"But why is the whip gone?" Mrs Beauchamp cried, in her best Pirate accent.


	12. Chapter 12

Cal and Ethan were back in school and Cal had been summoned to Mrs Beauchamp's study.

"Cal… is it true that you were cross because Miss Freechamp laughed when you asked her if she was a Lebsion?"

He nodded, hanging his head.

"Well, why did you want to know?"

And Cal explained why; how he knew that Lebsions could do magic. Mrs Beauchamp had to go out of the room, but when she came back out, she was smiling.

"Cal… you're right, but there's one thing you don't know. If you ever tell other people about Lebsions, the magic won't work. So you never, ever have to tell on Miss Freeman and myself, okay?"

"Ooh, okay, then Mrs Beauchamp, I'll keep it secret forever!"

"And I'll try to do some magic with Miss Freeman."

After all, now there were photos of the bruises on Cal and Ethan's backs, their dad might well be hauled off to jail. She was going to make damned sure they never went back to that asshole once proceedings started, and had her own idea for Christmas.

That afternoon was magic for all the kids apart from a very bad thing at the beginning. Taylor strutted up to Cal and smacked his face hard in the playground.

"That's for being bad to that rabbit!"

Miss Chao was on playground duty and she practically hauled Taylor to Mrs Beauchamp's office by the scruff of the neck. Taylor had red eyes all afternoon but Zax acted as one and stood firm.

"Taylor, you have hit our good friend Caleb. You are hens forth banned from being in the fierce, brave gang and if you try to get back in Robyn will bite you."

Robyn bared her teeth and Taylor fled to the school gates to whine to her mummy, but Taylor's mummy had control of the family credit card and could only see shops before her so she was just told to 'try and keep up, Pet, it's half-past five closing.

"Caleb, there is one precious place free in the Fierce, Brave Gang. Wilt thou have it?" asked Zax.

"YURRR!" grinned the not-very-romantic Cal. Toasts were drunk in fizzy pop and the Gang Song was sung.

And if that wasn't good enough, Mrs Beauchamp had had a very merry night with Miss Freeman ahead of her, and would be coming into work beaming with inner radiance the next day, when she would have an announcement to make.


	13. Chapter 13

Next day it looked as if Lofty was going to start by being in the doghouse. He'd brought his set of counting balls to school as usual, and decided to try something. Before he could stop himself he was juggling with them.

"Wow!" gasped Robyn.

Zoe and Max ran to stand together and act as one:

"Zax commands thee to juggle for them this playtime!"

"BEN, what are you doing?"

Lofty dropped his balls at the sound of Mr Keogh's voice. I could edit that sentence but I'm not going to.

"Ben, pick those up and go and show Mrs Beauchamp what you've been doing."

Feeling as if a big black cloud had come, Lofty went to see Mrs Beauchamp.

"Oh, it's you, Ben. Sit down."

"Please Mrs Beauchamp, Mr Keogh says to show you this…"

And Lofty/Ben juggled. Mrs Beauchamp's face didn't change a bit.

"Come on, Ben, we're going back to your class. I need to speak to them."

Red as a little curly-headed beetroot, Ben followed her in shame.

"Right, class, here's a big announcement. Because things have been a bit miserable lately, at Christmas, we are going to do two pantomimes. Now the teachers are going to do Sleeping Beauty, and you'll be doing Cinderella."

Speculation and hope. Taylor preened, Robyn's heart sank. She'd be an ugly sister, she knew she would.

"Max, as you and Zoe have been very good about sitting apart in Mr Keogh's classes, you will be Cinderella and Prince Charming."

Zax was given their deserved applause.

"Robyn and Louise will be the sisters… but we're going to make them the way Grimm wrote them. They were beautiful, but evil. So you'll be allowed to wear glam make up. Cal, I want you to try something. Normally Prince Charming's servant is called Dandini but we're going to have a joke. There was a famous man called Houdini who could escape from anything; people used to tie him up and lock him in a safe and he still got out. So you're going to be called Houdini and when the Prince calls for you, you have to sound lazy and say "I'm all tied up at the moment." Can you do that?

Cal put his hands behind his head, put his feet on the desk and drawled:

"I'm all tied up at the moment."

The others applauded. Taylor yawned.

"Now, I've just seen some fantastic juggling from Ben, so Ben will be Buttons and he can juggle to try to make Cinderella laugh" continued Mrs Beauchamp.

"Noel you'll be the Baron, Cinderella's stepfather. Ethan, we've got a clever part for you too. Instead of being the fairy godmother, you are going to be The Godfather. You'll wear shades and say a little rap poem."

Ethan looked delirious with joy. Taylor stamped her foot.

"Oh, I've forgotten somebody", smiled Mrs Beauchamp. "Instead of a white mouse being enchanted, we'll have a grey rabbit instead, who knows a grey rabbit round here and what's she called?"

"FLOSSY!" bawled the entire class, except sulky Taylor.

"Taylor" said Mrs Beauchamp coldly, "I decided to ban you for smacking Cal."

Tears came to Taylor's eyes, and Mrs Beauchamp's heart softened.

"But I've decided you can come to the front at the beginning and tell how the story begins. Okay?" It wasn't, but Taylor knew not to push her luck.

Lofty was delirious. He wasn't in disgrace, he was going to be a juggler! And Flossy was going to be a magic rabbit! It was all good.

Ethan practised rap in his head. Max and Zoe wondered if they'd be allowed to have a proper smoochy kiss.

And Mr Keogh wondered why the hell he'd let himself be talked into playing Nutty Neville the jester in the teachers' panto.


	14. Chapter 14

From then on, there were no lessons as such, apart from in Mr Keogh's class. Mr Keogh believed kids could have stars in their eyes and stil do sums. But he did change the questions to panto-related ones:

"Zoe, if you arrive at school at 9am and there's a special rehearsal at 12 noon, how many hours is that?"

"Ben, if there are four servants at the palace wearing blue, and three wearing red, how many servants is that?"

Cal loved being the lazy sneaky servant, especially when Mrs Beauchamp told him she had a tap dance for him. He was worried because he couldn't dance, but all he had to do was sit in a big armchair with his arms behind his head, and let his feet tap dance. It was to a very very old song called Lazybones that had been a hit for a man called Bling Crosby back in the days when everybody was poor and there were workhouses. (Cal had worked this out for himself but he couldn't quite work out why anybody wanted to be called Bling.)

Instead of being strict in her drawing class, Ms Chao let the kids draw pictures from 'Cinderella'. She almost had them dancing on the desks in glee when she told them the best drawing would be picked out and the design would be used in the show. Robyn did a very glamorous ball gown for Cinderella, and it won. Robyn's prize was a box of cereal bars, which Ms Chao said were New Trisious.

But although the kids' panto needed lots of hard work, it was nothing compared to the Teachers' panto. The kids almost weed themselves in glee at Mr Fairhead in his dress and make-up for Queen Charliana. Ethan fell in love all over again with Ms Chao as Fairy Galactica. But that was nothing towards the excitement Lofty and Cal felt on seeing Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman in their costumes for Prince Constantine and Princess Seraphina.

Although Lofty was falling in love with somebody else, too. He had the biggest man crush on Mr Keogh. He knew men could get married to other men, even though there were some bad mean people called Homey Phobics who wanted to get that stopped. Lofty was really confused. He was cured a little bit of his man crush when he saw Mr Keogh dressed in his Nutty Neville costume. But not much.


	15. Chapter 15

Poor Mr Keogh was kept busy in the next few weeks. Not only was he in the panto but had been reluctantly roped in to play Father Christmas at the end of term party. Even though Mrs Beauchamp desparingly told him that he sounded like he was shouting three call girls than giving Santa's merry greeting "Ho. ." he tried to throw his heart into things.

And Taylor was being eaten alive by the green eyed monster. She'd pinched Zoe's arm in the playground, only to be pinched back hard by Max: "Pinching girls isn't smacking girls, so I can."

She turned her spite towards Robyn who was rehearsing her duet with Louise in the school playground.

"YOU shouldn't be a Flashy Glam sister, Robyn Miller! Flashy Glam sisters are pretty… and you're a big ugly fatty!"

Poor little Robyn, who had been trying hard lately to lose some weight, couldn't help but let a tear run down her face.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

Everyone goggled at Lofty, who normally never raised his voice unless it was to giggle or to answer Mr Keogh in class. (Mr Keogh didn't like muttering.)

"She isn't a big ugly fatty, she's dead pretty. Robyn, don't you listen to her, I don't want you to get that Anna Rex Ear, it makes people poorly. I like you and when I'm a big lad of -oooh, fourteen - I'm going to marry you, so there!"

The romance might have been on between Lofty and Robyn but Max blew his chances right then. He'd given Taylor another pinch, this time on her bottom. Zoe was not pleased, and stormed into the Gang Hut shouting:

"Ethan and me's gonna take today's meeting. Max is banned for a week."


	16. Chapter 16

Some boring bits from me and then on with the story. First of all, thanks for the lovely reviews and yes I'd be delighted to write longer chapters. I thought the longer ones might bore people so it's nice to be proved wrong. Secondly, some very bad news. I was going to be bringing this to a close soon and it was going to be a one-off. Alas, more adventures of the little brats have crept into my head and so there'll be a sequel coming along shortly after this story ends. You have been warned.

Max stalked into the hut and shouted:

"Hey, Lady"

(He'd heard this on TV.)

"What?" growled Zoe.

"Zax is Zax. So if I can't be Fierce, Brave Gang, you can't be either."

Ethan trembled. He couldn't hold a gang meeting alone.

"Right, we shall do the meeting puffesion'ly. But we're still not friends."

The Gang Meeting went ahead. Comics were swapped; best mates swapped sweeties and presents. But Zoe and Max sat there fuming.

After lunch Max felt sorry and sneaked back to where Miss Honey was just about to do her washing up.

"Miss Honey, are you going shopping after this?"

Miss Honey wasn't, but for this little brown-eyed lad:

"What do you need, Max?"

"A nice packet of love hearts, please. I've got my money…."

"You save that, Max, these are on me. I'll get them to you for afternoon playtime.

Mr Keogh's class was after playtime.

Zoe stalked into class and flung down her bag. Then she saw the message in love hearts on her desk:

"Ima prat. Sory."

Mr Keogh walked in, saw Zoe's desk and calmly took a pink love heart from the display, putting it into his mouth.

"Now put them away Zoe, or I shall eat them all."

Lofty's heart went all melty at Mr Keogh's cheekiness. But he would still marry Robyn because when he himself was fourteen, Mr Keogh would be on a Zimmer frame.

Zoe put them away. But just before Ms Chao's class she wrote on the blackboard:

"Im sory to. Wear Zax agen."

Max just spotted it before Ms Chao stalked in, gave a snort of contempt, and wiped the blackboard clean. But the Romeo and Juliet of Holby Mixed Infants were back together.

The Christmas party for the staff of Holby Mixed Infants was held a couple of weeks before the end of term. Connie and Rita wore their most stunning dresses, Dylan arrived in jeans and a hoodie and Charlie and Big Mac looked suave in tuxedos.

A raffle for charity was organised, with the prize being 'Slutty', which was actually the famous Sooty teddy bear wearing a diamante thong.

Eagle-eyed Mrs Beauchamp soon found a nice little cubbyhole, and pulled a giggling Miss Freeman into it. All was lovely until:

"What the hell's that caterwauling?"

Remembering how sharp-eyed little Cal had been, they adjusted their hair and lipstick and followed the direction of the caterwauling. Mr Keogh was sitting under the stairs, off his face, clasping Slutty to his chest, and singing:

"Me and my teddy bear, got no worries, got no care, me and my teddy bear, we play and play all day. I love my teddy bear, drops her pants and her ass is bare, I love my teddy bear, we play and play all day." (If anybody wants the tune to know what Dylan Keogh's actually singing her, try You Tube, the singer was Mandy Miller. It's er… not that awe inspiring.)

Seeing the glazed look in Mr Keogh's eyes, Big Mac rescued Slutty and then escorted Mr Keogh to the gents.

Unfortunately as the party was on a weekday due to a busy schedule, Mr Keogh was off sick and the kids got a very unpleasant supply teacher instead.

Vernon Tanner believed in discipline in class, so when he came swaggering into the classroom that morning, he saw a little curly-haired kid with a comic on his desk. it wasn't open, Lofty had his sum book out ready, but Vernon was out for scalps. He calmly picked up the comic. tore it into four pieces and flung it in the bin. Mr Keogh had once done a similar thing, but instead of tearing up the comic, he'd sat there reading the comic while the kids did a test, shouting: "Any marks less than eight out of ten, Ben, and I'll tell all the spoilers."

The comic Vernon had ripped up was a special edition that had cost Lofty all his pocket money and had been the only issue in the shop. Lofty was devastated. Worse was to come.


	17. Chapter 17

Zoe and Max exchanged a look that meant 'Whip found for Lofty in the next gang meeting.' Alas, Vernon Venom caught the look.

"You two! Stop pulling faces at each other. You can stay in at playtime for that."

Little Ethan piped up:

"They can't, they've got to hold a gang meeting."

Vernon was down on him like a ton of bricks. He bawled straight into Ethan's face:

"WATCH YOUR TONGUE, YOU LITTLE RATBAG!"

It was a very loud shout and Ethan was a very small boy. He burst into tears.

"In the corner, Cry Boy!"

Ethan, his little legs wobbling, went to stand in the corner. Cal jumped up:

"Don't you pick on my brother!"

"Right, the whole class stays in at playtime and lunchtime. So you'd better all have got good breakfasts inside you, hadn't you?"

Cal and Ethan hadn't had any breakfast because their Mum and Dad had been fighting again, and they'd grabbed their bags and sneaked out. And Miss Honey - the lady Ethan was in love with - was cooking their favourite, Carby Nora, for lunch that day. Tears ran down Ethan's face.

Mrs Beauchamp liked to watch the gang running down to the hut at playtime, and was puzzled by the lack of activity. But when she didn't see them running down to the hut in the second half of the lunch hour she became very concerned, and went to see Miss Honey in the canteen.

"NONE of them turned up for lunch?"

"No; and little Ethan and Cal love my Carbonara."

"Honey, could you spare a bit of overtime today?"

Honey nodded.

"Thanks; please keep the food as warm as you can."

And Mrs Beauchamp strode out of the canteen and out into the playground like an avenging angel, Miss Freechamp, watching her from an upstairs window, nearly swooned and had to pretend to Mr Fairhead that she had a headache.

The kids weren't playing, they weren't in the canteen, and they weren't in the hut. Classroom search, then. Mrs Beauchamp smelt a big fat rat.


	18. Chapter 18

Mrs Beauchamp looked in every classroom and finally found the kids, looking tired pale and frightened, writing lines as if their lives depended on it.

"Mr Tanner!"

Vernon looked up and realising it was the headmistress, put on a smarmy grin.

"Why are these children in here during lunch time?"

"They've been rude and generally behaving like hooligans."

Vernon indicated the kids one by one.

"HE had a comic on his desk when I came in."

"Open or closed?" asked Mrs Beauchamp.

"Well, closed, but…"

"Did he have his sum book out?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Then I suggest that if you confiscated his comic, you give it back to him this minute."

For once, Cal's outspokenness came in handy.

"Please Mrs Beauchamp, he tore up the comic and put it in the bin. Then he yelled in Ethan's face and made him cry, and made him stand in the corner for crying. When I told him not to pick on Ethan, he kept us all in at playtime and lunch."

"Right, kids, off to the canteen, Miss Honey's keeping your food warm. Mr Tanner, I'll make sure the agency pays you for the rest of the day but I want you off my premises this minute."

"You spoil those kids, you silly bitch-"

"GET OUT! I'm going to ring the agency and see how many other children you've upset."

"It was my first job!" bawled Vernon.

Mrs Beauchamp's look of disbelief and rage made him think twice about arguing any longer. Vernon Tanner fled.

Later, their little guts pleasantly full of Carbonara and ice cream, the kids trooped happily after Miss Freeman and Mrs Beauchamp, who had cancelled all lessons for the day and taken them on a nature walk. True, they'd had to muffle up with gloves and scarves, and every so often Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman would disappear behind trees 'to take notes', but they had a wonderful time.

There was just a little pain in Lofty's heart for his lost comic but it had been a much nicer afternoon than morning.

Next day Mr Keogh was back as normal. Mrs Beauchamp asked him to step into her study for a while, and told him what Vernon Venom had done to the kids.

"Apparently Ben went back to try and rescue his comic and tape it up but the a**hole had deliberately dropped a wet tea bag on it. It was a special edition that cost Ben all his pocket money."

Normally, Mr Keogh, who knew more than he let on, would have just said "Oh dear" while wanting to say "What? No cheeky Rita hiding under the desk today?"

The truth was, Mr Keogh was horrified. He'd behaved like a jerk at the party and he'd not been there for the kids when they'd needed him.

"Oh", he said quietly, and then:

"If I'm wanted urgently between lessons I'll be in my study. "

Mrs Beauchamp thought he was sulking at the time.

Lofty's face lit up to see Mr Keogh coming in as usual. He worked as hard as he could to celebrate this.

After the lesson:

"Ben, stay behind a moment please."

Ben, not thinking he'd been bad, began to worry.

Mr Keogh took a comic out of his bag.

"There you go, Ben."

Ben didn't quite understand.

"Oh Mr Keogh are you lending me yours?"

"No, silly boy, I'm far too grand and grumpy for comics. That's yours, out of school funds. Because yours was vandalised by an excuse for a teacher. Now off you go and see if you can get Ms Chao to crack a smile today."

"Oh thank you Mr Keogh-"

"Off to Ms Chao at once!" said Mr Keogh with a big frown that Ben didn't quite believe.

Lofty scampered off and Mr Keogh thanked the powers that be for E bay.


	19. Chapter 19

Hope these stories aren't too Lofty-centred for you all; I really love his character but I do try to include the others as well as they're all special. Here's some more:

"Ms Dixon, why can't we have the hut for gang meetings any more and why won't Mrs Beauchamp let us go near it?" asked Zoe in excercise class.

"I don't know, sweetheart, but she has given you a nice spare classroom for your meetings hasn't she?"

Zax nodded together. They just liked to KNOW things.

"Now come along, I've got a super new set of excercises for you, they're called Tai Chi and they're Chinese. So who wants to learn these and become my special Holby Panthers?

The kids loved Tai Chi, especially when Ms Dixon gave them all animal names because a lot of moves in Tai Chi have animal names. Zax were King Lion and Queen Lioness, Cal was Crouching Tiger, Ethan was Small Brave Dog, Lofty Small Wild Cat, Noel was Swift Cheetah, Robyn Noble Horse, and Louise Running Deer. Taylor was… still a waste of space but Mrs Dixon let her be Swishy Rattlesnake.

Crouching Tiger and Small Brave Dog were called to Mrs Beauchamp's study.

"Are you looking forward to Christmas?" she asked them.

Their small faces fell. No they weren't, because their dad would get drunk and hit their mum, then they'd probably both hit Cal and Ethan.

Mrs Beauchamp smiled.

"How would you like to spend Christmas with me at my house? You'd come on Christmas Eve and go back after New Year's Day."

"Oh YEAH!" sighed Ethan.

"Don't be silly, Dad won't let us go", chided Cal.

"As a matter of fact, he will." Mrs Beauchamp waved a signed piece of paper. She didn't tell the boys that their dad's words had been 'if it costs, they can't, if it's free they can.' So at least the boys would have a decent Christmas until those bruises had been investigated.

"Won't it cost money and won't you have to cook lots?" asked Ethan.

"Miss Freeman will be staying too and she'll help me cook."

The boys fairly bounced along to Mr Fairhead's class.

They weren't the only ones bouncing that afternoon. Mrs Beauchamp had come up to the canteen and asked the kids to go along with her after they'd finished eating. To their surprise, she led them towards the Gang Hut, which now had a sign on the roof that said "Home of the Fierce, Brave Gang" in big bold red letters.

The kids vowed to act their socks off in the panto the following week and to work hard all next term.


	20. Chapter 20

The kids sat waiting for the curtain to rise on the teachers' pantomime. As they were small and eager, it seemed to take forever before the music began and the King and Queen stepped forward with a bundle. Ms Chao, looking gorgeous as Fairy Galactica, joined them. Then there was a clap of thunder (Big Mac on Special Effects) and Ms Dixon, made up to look evil, ran on and cursed the newborn baby. Max and Zoe held hands in terror. Nutty Neville bounded on the stage and said, as only Mr Keogh could:

"Go away, vile hag."

Ms Dixon, as Fairy Nightshade, cast a spell that turned him to stone, and Fairy Galactica was left to make the curse less scary and to free poor Neville.

The scene moved on. Miss Honey, dressed as a pretty peasant, came on and did a song and dance about it being Princess Seraphina's 18th birthday, and Cal clenched his fists in case anybody laughed about Miss Freeman only being eighteen. But the audience, a mixture of the kids and their parents, loved it. Ethan felt glad his mum and dad weren't there to spoil things, then wondered if he'd be sent to hell for that.

Then Lofty's flighty little heart did a somersault as Miss Beauchamp stalked on stage as a very angry Prince Constantine. He had been engaged to Princess Seraphina against his will and he bet she was hideous. All the kids wanted to chuckle as this was Miss Freeman, but they'd been told it would be a big spoiler if they did. Princess Serafina, disguised as a serving maid to try and find out what the Prince was like to people who weren't Royal, came on and Prince Constantine fell in love with her. Cal thought they must be really enjoying this scene because they had to dance together and Mrs Beauchamp had to kiss Miss Freeman's cheek. But he knew he hadn't got to tell because the Lebsion Magic had begun already, with them going to stay with Mrs Beauchamp for Christmas.

All too soon it was the interval and Ethan, who had been wriggling a bit, sped off for a wee.

While he was coming back from his wee, Ethan spotted D I Self having a coffee. He mentioned this to Cal, and said "I think he's after Mrs Beauchamp". Cal replied without thinking:

"He'll be disappointed there, then."

"Ooh, what do you mean?" gasped Ethan. Cal wished the curtain would go back up so he didn't have to answer but the bell hadn't even rung for five more minutes so he racked his brains. Then he replied:

"You haven't got to tell anybody this, Ethan... Mrs Beauchamp's secretly betrothed to Mr Fairhead", Cal's imagination ran riot, "And Mr Fairhead has a mean old mother who thinks Mrs Beauchamp's a bad woman because she wears high heels. She'll disinherit Mr Fairhead if she finds out and then the wedding will have to be called off."

"Oooh! When's the wedding?"

"2019. But you haven't got to say anything."

Ethan swore on the Fierce, Brave Gang and made the sign. Then the bell rang for people to come back to their seats and Cal sighed in relief.

Act Two was wonderful. When the witch tricked Princess Seraphina into pricking her finger and going to sleep, Prince Constantine had to cut down hedges and kill a dragon to get into the palace to save her. Max and Zoe clung to each other during the dragon scene. But the Prince stabbed the dragon and it fell down dead, and when they took the sheet off the dragon, it was the witch. The kids felt sorry that they had to cheer for Mrs Dixon being killed but they did it anyway.

After that, Nutty Neville bounded on stage, and said he was going to teach everybody a song called Star Trekkin', and the Prince, King and Queen, and Miss Honey all ran back on stage and did the actions he gave them. Lofty sighed in pleasure at Mrs Beachamp, as the Prince, making two little Alien antennae with her fingers as she sang "There's life out there but not as we know it". Every time a cast member got the actions wrong Nutty Neville raised his hand bossily and made them go off stage. Miss Honey won and she got to sing the whole song through again with Nutty Neville. Then all the kids' legs turned to jelly.

They'd be up on that stage the next night!


	21. Chapter 21

Miss Honey didn't like to nag but Robyn was the fourth kid who'd not wanted any lunch that day.

"Come on, you don't want to be so weak when you're on stage that you mess up!" she exhorted.

Several little white faces looked at her.

"Now come on" Miss Honey repeated, "I've made soup. You can all eat soup - and then there are some nice new smoothies for after."

Ethan, because he hated to say 'no' to Miss Honey, tried the soup. It was really good and soon he'd cleared his plate, and was asking for his smoothie. The others followed suit slowly.

Robyn and Louise rehearsed their song for the ballroom scene in the gang hut:

"If my jewellery seems to flash for you, and my colours seem to clash to you,

Nobody's business but my own.

If us girls aren't understood enough, that's because the boys aren't good enough.

Nobody's business but our own."

In the store cupboard, Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman sang the naughtier verses that had to be left out of the song:

"Those who're scared of sex will ration it, we're two girls will still get passionate,

Nobody's business but our own.

Some girls weep at the juice they're stewing in,

Us girls cry ALOUD for ruining,

Nobody's business but our own."

A soft movement behind them.

"What a pretty song, but it'd sound much better without Rita's skirt over her head."

"DYLAN! Will you learn to knock-?"

Meanwhile, the kids managed to keep their soup and smoothies down but they were becoming more and more nervous.

Noel taught them a new game, which they were to play on the last day of term…

And the hours ticked on.

Mrs Beauchamp organised an afternoon tea session for the parents while the kids got ready for their performance, during which she discussed their childrens' progress.

"My Taylor says there's a mean little fat girl in her class who picks on her", Taylor's mum said officiously.

"Well I'm afraid your daughter must see that from a different viewpoint from the rest of us. Your daughter actually was the one who was mean to Robyn. To be honest, I'm a bit concerned about your daughter's behaviour."

"WELL!" stormed Taylor's mum, "If my little girl wasn't in the show tonight I'd be taking her home right now."

Mrs Beauchamp looked down at the woman's plate; there were two of Miss Honey's finest cream scones piled on it.

"But of course, you wouldn't want to abandon your free meal. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other parents to see."

Mrs Beauchamp rose gracefully and went to where Mr and Mrs Chiltern were drinking tea and nibbling home-made biscuits. She couldn't wait to tell them how well Ben had looked after the school rabbit.

Lofty was actually becoming very anxious about the school rabbit.

"Big Mac, you won't make a big loud magic noise when Ethan comes on, and scare Flossy, will you?"

"No, Ben, don't you fret. Ethan's just going to scatter some magic dust and it'll be behind Flossy so it doesn't get her eyes."

"Should we practise our kiss one more time?" asked Max. To Zoe, not Lofty.

Zoe was just about to answer when the bell went for them to get in position on stage. The kids did a quick group hug and crept down to wait in the wings.

They were very pleased to see Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman coming into the wings and hiding. The little innocents thought they'd come down to give them support…

And up went the curtain, and there was Ethan saying his opening rap poem about how mean the sisters were to Cinderella:

"Those harpies are so mean to Cinders, they make her scrub and clean the winders,

And walk the dog, and feed the cat. The rotten blighters! Fancy that!"

All the mums in the audience, and some dads, cooed over Ethan.


	22. Chapter 22

Taylor fumed in the wings. Mrs Beauchamp had told her two days ago that her part of narrator wasn't needed as Ethan could do it in his little rap poem. Mrs Beauchamp had thought Taylor would enjoy her small but noticeable part as Tabitha the kitten. She got to wear a little cat costume complete with tail and whiskers but she was still angry and had tried to trip Ethan as he'd gone on but he'd skipped past her. She heard her cue and prowled on. Every time poor Zoe tried to say her lines as Cinderella, Taylor prowled in front of her with a loud meow. The audience laughed at the cheeky cat, but poor Zoe was on the verge of tears. In the other corner of the wings, Max was all but weeping in sympathy.

Suddenly, totally unscripted, a man strode on stage singing:

"My name is Mr Prat, and I cannot stand this cat."

And Mr Keogh threw Taylor over his shoulder and carried her out, leaving Zoe to continue her performance. The audience thought it was in the script and cheered. All except one angry lady in the front row.

Mrs Beauchamp checked her lipstick and then steered Taylor out of the school hall.

"You can go home with your mum in the interval, Taylor. Don't come back to school next week, please. You're suspended."

On stage, Mr Keogh did a cheeky little dance round Zoe during which he whispered to her:

"Stage is all yours now, Zoe. Knock 'em dead."

And Zoe soon had the audience eating out of her hand.

Lofty came in as Buttons and told Cinderella not to be sad that she couldn't go to the ball; he would show her a juggling trick to make her laugh.

Expecting to be booed and told he was rubbish, Lofty was gobsmacked by the amount of applause he received. Then it was time for the palace scene with the Prince catching his lazy servant sleeping on the throne. (Cue for sniggers from the audience.) Max had to stop being easy going and nice, and had to sound stern and tell Cal off.

"You've probably stirred up a hornet's nest there, Beauchamp", whispered Miss Freeman as Mrs Beauchamp returned to the wings.

"I don't give a damn. But remind me Dylan's due for a pay rise."

Then the saucy pair were back to business.

Everything went wonderfully for the rest of the evening. Everybody loved Cal's lazy tap dance in the chair; Flossy wasn't a bit scared when the glitter dust was thrown behind her, or when she was carried off stage in the dark while a picture of a golden coach with a lovely white horse was projected on the screen at the back.

Max and Zoe were naturals; because they already liked each other so much there was no embarrassment between them when the Prince had to kiss Cinderella's hand and tell her she was beautiful.

Ethan was great as the Godfather, the audience howled at his shades and his little rap rhyme about: 'Run when that clock begins to chime, for midnight is a wicked time.'

Lofty was amazed again in the second half, when he had to pretend to be upset and sing a little song called 'Don't laugh at me cause I'm a fool' to the audience, because he knew Cinderella wanted the Prince and not him. Nobody laughed at him in a nasty way, they just went 'awwwww.' If it had been a competition for the audience's affections, Ethan and Lofty would have had to have a tiebreaker.

And Miss Honey, whose sewing was as good as her cooking, had made Cinderella and her Prince the most magnificent outfits for the wedding scene. The Flashy sisters, now reformed, had to wheel Cal on in a bath chair in that scene and the applause for them all was huge.

Finally, another unscheduled entrance from 'Mr Prat' who carried Flossy on to take her bow. She wasn't a bit scared of all the applause.

Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman seemed to have been lost in the wings, but then they came running on with the rest of the teachers.

The kids went to bed with dreams of being stars running through their heads.

The next week began quite well… until Mr Fairhead knocked at Mrs Beauchamp's study door (how fast Rita tiptoed to the store cupboard!) and said that somebody was there to see the Headmistress about Taylor. Mrs Beauchamp checked her mirror, threw back her head, and prepared for battle.

But it wasn't Taylor's mummy; it was Taylor's daddy.


	23. Chapter 23

She knew somehow he wouldn't be awkward when he smiled and said cheerfully:

"Hello luv."

"I'm the Headmistress", she replied.

"Yeah, you can call me Dave, luv. Now about our Taylor. I understand she's suspended."

"She tried to sabotage the pantomime last night and bullied the lead character. She's behaved badly before."

"I know that, but her Mum thinks the sun shines out of her arse… sorry, luv, I keep forgetting I'm not on the construction site. But I know what she's like. All sweetness and light to her mum, an awkward little bitch to everybody else. Is it true she said she'd been picked on by a little chubby lass?"

"That's what she said."

"She's a liar, luv. Compulsive-like. It's more like she was giving the chubby kid grief. Well, things are going to change in our house. Oh I don't mean smacking her or her mum; I've got summat much better than that. I've got THIS!"

Dave held up a credit card.

"I'm going to get this changed so it's just in my name. Let them two manage on the housekeeping and child benefit. See how that ruins their Christmas. Just between you and me, luv, I'm making plans to get out; pack me bags and leave 'em to it."

He suddenly all but leered at Mrs Beauchamp, who actually drew back a little.

"I'm looking for a better woman, luv."

A gurgle from the stock cupboard.

"Miss Freeman, have you finished checking the stationery yet?" Mrs Beauchamp called, softly but in a very steely tone.

"Yes, luv… oops, I mean Mrs Beauchamp."

Oh, Rita, you are so in for a spanking later, thought the dignified Headmistress of Holby Mixed Infants.

Dave held out his hand.

"Well, I just thought I'd let you know how things stood, luv. If you don't want her back, don't get your panties in a bunch about it."

Mrs Beauchamp shook Dave's hand, and he was gone, leaving the baffled Headmistress actually feeling sorry for Taylor.

And Miss Freeman fell out of the cupboard, helpless with suppressed laughter.


	24. Chapter 24

Lofty stroked Flossy tenderly behind her ears and whispered:

"Big Mac's going to take you home for Christmas. He'll be kind. But I'll miss you."

"So will I", Ethan piped up wistfully. He knew he and Cal could never have pets because of their dad and mum having vicious arguments. Ethan loved Flossy and would miss her too. But it would be nice at Mrs Beauchamp's house.

"Today Zax may sit together", announced Mr Keogh in his class, with the faintest hint of a smile.

Mr Keogh knew about Zax! The kids were thrilled.

But then their estimation of Mr Keogh went right down again as they heard him say he was giving sum books out. They wanted to stay friends with him so they only pulled faces in their heads.

"Now, Zoe. Read out the first problem and give me the answer."

Zoe, really disappointed but not wanting to kick off, read out:

"What is wrong with this film title and what is the right answer? 'Crouching tiger, hidden whippet'?"

She began to giggle.

"It's dragon, Mr Keogh, it's dragon."

"Dragon indeed. Ethan."

"Goldilocks and the three…" Ethan began to chuckle… "Budgies! It's bears, Mr Keogh!"

"A gold star day, kids."

All the kids answered their questions and got gold stars. Mr Keogh silently thanked his printer friend for putting the books together.

"And here's Ethan with his hand up. Speak, Ethan."

"Please Mr Keogh, you said you were giving sum books out."

Mr Keogh wrote 'sum' on the blackboard.

"No, Ethan, I said I was giving some books out."

He wrote 'some' on the blackboard. The kids howled at being caught out.

"Ha ha, got you", said Mr Keogh in the same tone of voice as if he'd said "I have a headache, can you keep the noise down?"

The kids walked as fast as they dared to Ms Chao's class, hoping she'd be as fun as Mr Keogh.

"Okay, you can all draw your favourite scene from the show, in which you were all excellent, by the way."

By lunchtime the kids were in a real party mood. And that was to come, at four o'clock, they would all be taken home by a teacher in their car, and Father Christmas was coming to the party!

Ethan knew there was no Father Christmas really; Cal had told him in one of his mean moods, but he was still excited.

And suddenly school was over and it was time for the party!

The party exceeded their wildest expectations. All the teachers - even Mr Keogh and Ms Chao - wore silly party hats. Mrs Beauchamp had a pirate's hat and Miss Freeman had a crown like a princess. First came the games, so the kids would feel even more like their high tea. Everybody in the gang won a prize except Lofty, because of his being a little clumsy. But he still clapped and cheered for everybody else. So the teachers had a little whisper to themselves and Mrs Beauchamp said:

"There's one more prize to come; the most generous loser. Ben has been cheering for everybody, even though he didn't win a prize. Come up here, Ben, this prize is for you."

Lofty beamed and came for his prize. He was so excited to see it was a book about pets that he almost fell down the steps coming back from the stage but the kids all clapped and cheered him. Zax were thrilled with their matching pencil cases and Ethan loved his toy dinosaur.

Then there was a wonderful feast; plenty of new trisious things as well as the favourites; Miss Honey had surpassed herself. All the kids except Cal felt sorry for Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman because they kept having to disappear during the feast 'to keep the washing up down'. But Cal KNEW they were making more lebsion magic for lucky kids.

All of a sudden 'Here comes Santa Claus' played on the loudspeakers and in came Santa, with a big fat sack. His 'ho ho ho' sounded just a little bit fierce but he had a present for every child and every teacher, and… Zax held hands nervously in case Mrs Beauchamp was offended, a present 'To Mrs Beauchamp from the Fierce Brave Gang for our wonderful hut'. The kids had asked Miss Dixon how to get a present like that to Santa, and she'd taken care of everything! Mrs Beauchamp had tears in her eyes and told her class they were all stars.

Then there were goodbye hugs, shouts of 'Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and it was time to go off home in the teachers' cars. But Cal and Ethan grinned the widest because they wouldn't be going to a scary Christmas with shouting parents, they'd be going to Mrs Beauchamp's!


	25. Chapter 25

This post will be the end of the current FBG story. I have plans to torture everybody with some more FBG stuff soon but need a little break to work on things for friends, etc.

"I want to go to school!" sobbed Ethan.

Mrs Beauchamp stroked his head gently.

"Doctor Meyer says one more day, sweetheart, to make sure that bug's completely out of you. Now I have to go, but you wait till I come back, there'll be a surprise. You be good for Miss Dixon, won't you?"

Ethan, never able to be sulky for long, gave her a watery smile.

"I love you, Mrs Beauchamp."

She gave him a little hug and got out of the room before he noticed that she was on the verge of tears. Poor little kid, missing such an important day.

Still, she knew he'd be almost bouncing with excitement when he heard her news later…

It was Lofty's turn to speak and he'd almost been bursting to tell his news but hadn't wanted to be rude.

"Now it's Ben's turn to tell us what he got for Christmas."

"Oh Miss Beauchamp! I got a - a kitten!"

"A kitten! Maybe somebody told your mum and dad how good you've been with Flossy, Ben."

"Yes Mrs Beauchamp. And he's got to stay with us for ever even when he's an old cat with no teeth, that wees all over. But I'll love him for good. He's part of the family now, mum says."

"And what's his name?"

"Eric Chiltern."

"Good name. Now Zoe, what did you get?"

"A Barbie and a house for her, and me and Max went to the panto in town and …"

"We'll talk about the panto soon Zoe, but right now I want to ask Zax a big favour. Ethan's very upset that he can't come in. Do you think you could spare some Zax funds to get him a present?"

Zax placed their hands on their hearts in the gang salute.

"We vow and swear that we shall ask for help from our loyal members, and Ethan shall have a present. Could somebody fetch it for us when it's lunch?"

So things were going well already. But just let them wait till after lunch and their exercise class, and the news they'd get just before hometime!

Meanwhile, Lofty was to receive a bit of a shock when he went to check on Flossy…

Big Mac was waiting at his hut, and he said:

"Ben, Mrs Beauchamp's very busy but she wants to ask if you'll do something wonderful now you've got your own kitten. She wants to ask you to let Ethan be Flossy's new Guardian."

Without a trace of sarcasm, the small boy said: "Do you think he'll let me come and stroke her, 'cause that's what I did."

"If you've time, Ben. But these boys need you to look after them."

Big Mac lifted up a cage with two smaller rabbits in it.

"These are Flossy's brothers. Mrs Beauchamp wants you to look after them and give them names."

Lofty hesitated for a beat. Then:

"Harry and Ron."

"Nice one."

Lofty ran back to class smiling. He still loved Flossy but Ethan would be good to her and now there were Harry and Ron as well as Eric Chiltern at home to look after.

Because Miss Dixon was looking after Ethan, Mr Iain stood in for her. Zoe thought he was sexy but she didn't love him like she loved Max. Mr Iain taught them a thing called Zoom Bah! where they learned how to do dances. One of them was to the tune of the funny song about the gorilla in the Jungle Book. The kids loved walking round like apes and pretending to scratch under their arms.

Meanwhile, Mrs Beauchamp and Miss Freeman were doing their own Zoom Bah in the Travelodge, but they were both back to school in time to see all the kids sitting neatly in the big assembly hall with Mr Fairhead in charge.

And Mrs Beauchamp produced a newspaper from her handbag, gathered them round and read out the big advert.

But you'll have to wait to see what it's about until I do my new story "The Fierce, Brave Gang - In it to Win It."

Bye from the gang for now….


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